Presentation: Online Marketing Best Practices
Web Design & Development Best Practices:
Design/Development Intro: Cohesive branding, user experience, responsive design, web standards
Point 1 - Present a cohesive brand identity (logo, color scheme, imagery, etc.) that best represents the key qualities of your law firm.
Your website and your print collateral (business card, pamphlets, billboards, etc.). Every part of your law firm’s marketing should clearly identify what makes you unique, compentent, capable, and a trusted resource. Perhaps you want to be a legal entity that markets itself as a tough, competent leader within your practice area(s). Or, maybe you’d like to be seen as understanding and sympathetic to your client’s needs. Either way, your brand should remain consistent through all areas of your marketing efforts. By using a consistent branding message across all marketing areas, the potential client is able to better understand what kind of firm you are which allows you to bring in the types of clients that best match your law firm.
Point 2 - Incorporate a robust information architecture (IA) and smooth user experience (UX) to optimize the visitors ability to intake information.
When a visitor and possible client comes to your website, they are likely there for a specific reason. If your website’s content is put together in a thoughtful way while at the same time easily accessible by way of layout/navigation, the visitor is more likely to see your law firm as the right law firm for them. When a visitor to your website decides to take action, make it easy on them. Clearly marking call-to-actions/contact areas on your website by using conversion elements and/or conversion colors. A few examples are relatable icons such as phone/conversation icons, conversion colors on phone numbers and contact links, and short form/call-to-action areas on each page. (Define a conversion and call-to-action)
Point 3 - Use responsive design and functionality for all devices (smart phones, tablets, HDTVs, etc.)
There are many devices that allow people to access the web, with more being added every day. If you want to give potential clients the best experience possible, your website must look and function optimally for said client’s particular device. Responsive design allows this by using CSS (website style rules) to identify a users screen resolution (screen size for all intents and purposes) and serve up layouts and functionality that makes the best use of any given device. This could mean content areas that will go from 3 column down to 1 column for easier readability and content scanning. Another example is user specific inputs. While a user on a desktop or laptop may use a mouse to click through an image gallery, a user on a tablet will likely be using touch capabilities. A responsive website means each user can operate a website the way they want to. Giving visitors to your website the tools and ability needed to best consume information is an important step in creating confidence and trust. EXAMPLE/EXPLANATION EXAMPLE/EXPLANATION EXAMPLE/EXPLANATION EXAMPLE/EXPLANATION
Point 4 - Make sure your website is built using the following native web languages: HTML, CSS, and Javascript - HTML: a markup language for displaying your website’s content - CSS: a styling language for defining the design and layout of your website - Javascript: an programming language used to create interactive effects on your website An important part of the visitors experience is the website actually functioning properly. If your website is built with these three components then you can rest assured that your website will work for any and all web browsers on any and all web-enabled devices. If a visitor brings up your website and sees a blank area, or a video that does not work, their experience will likely be negative one. This can easily turn into a negative opinion of your firm. The likely reason for something not working, is a website being partially built with non-standard web languages such as Flash (compare to Javascript). For the sake of a possible client’s experience, make sure your website is not using website plugins that can negatively affect the user’s experience. Make sure to ask these questions of your developer: 1. Will/does my website use any languages that are not native to the web? If so, is there a specific reason for doing so? 2. Are there any aspects of my website that will not work properly on certain devices? 3. Does my website take advantage of responsive development techniques? Design/Development Conclusion Whether a new visitor or current client, the end goal of your website should be an experience that reflects your law firm’s brand and capabilities.
SEO Best Practices:
SEO Intro Three components work together to drive organic search engine traffic and convert them into leads: 1. A strategic search engine optimization plan 2. Custom, optimized content that answers 3 primary questions (which we will get to shortly) 3. A design that is visually appealing, while providing the best possible user experience on all devices. Here are a few search engine optimization best practices to follow: - Be specific within your website and content - Create separate pages for all of your practice areas. More pages = more opportunity to be found online. - Clearly define your geographic footprint on each page - More than 50% of all professional service searches are local. - You can use primary geographic references in your content headers, content body and footer. - The longer you have a website on a domain, typically the better it performs - Try to avoid using every partner in the domain name (lawyers come and go over time). - If you change domain names, you will severely impair your ability to generate traffic in Google. EXAMPLE/EXPLANATION EXAMPLE/EXPLANATION EXAMPLE/EXPLANATION EXAMPLE/EXPLANATION- Acquire links from 3rd-party websites
- Quality websites who link to you provide value and increase exposure in the search engines. Be careful; don’t use software to expedite this process. (Software combines high volume with low quality, and there are spam filters in place to see this.)
SEO is a very reactive style of online marketing. You are at the mercy of the search engines. One update by a search engine could really help or hurt your visibility. Remember this, SEO is not an event, it is an ongoing process.
Point 1 – Original Content Written for Your Visitors, Not Search Engines
Your content should be original and written to the individuals who visit your website, not for search engines. In most cases with law firm websites, your visitors want 3 things: 1. Can you help me in my time of need? 2. Where are you located? 3. How do I contact you? You only have a few seconds to make an impression, don’t intimidate readers when they land on a page within your website. Keep the content “consumable” by using headers to break up content sections and use bullets (250 – 300 words is plenty for any given page). Your website is about acquiring clients, the content should be about them. How can you help them? You can turn people off by writing just about you and how great you are (even if you are!).
Point 2 – Blogging, Social Media and Content Amplification
Plain and simple, if you don’t have the time to write blog posts and amplify your content through social media channels such as Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook, don’t waste your time. This can be very time consuming and if not done correctly, can be a waste of your resources.
Notes:
- Social media/blogging is a full-time job
- Chances of blog posts showing up in an organic search are slim to none.
Point 3 – Local Search/Business Listings
Create (or claim existing) business profiles in high value local websites. Be consistent with NAP (name, address, phone number) and take the time to fill in critical details about your service. (Don’t forget your web address!) Third-party providers can help with this process. UBL.org is an easy and affordable way to create many local listings. EXAMPLE/EXPLANATION EXAMPLE/EXPLANATION EXAMPLE/EXPLANATION EXAMPLE/EXPLANATION EXAMPLE/EXPLANATION
Point 4 – Web Analytics (Google Analytics is Free) Measuring web traffic can be used as a tool for business and market research, to assess and improve the effectiveness of a web site. Here is a sample of what can be measured using Google Analytics: - Site engagement - Traffic sources - Geographic footprint - Conversion events
PPC Best Practices:
PPC Intro Pay-per-click (also known as cost-per-click) marketing enables you to list your site at the top of search engine results - selecting keywords that best describe your services and objectives. PPC allows your firm to gain maximum exposure, with quick results, while targeting a specific audience and controlling the marketing budget. Overall ROI performance of ad campaigns can be tracked down to the penny.Point 1 – Pay-Per-Click Platforms
There are several platforms that can be leveraged to drive traffic and generate leads for your law firm. We are going to focus on the most popular and best performing. There are two types of marketing involved with PPC – Pull Marketing and Push Marketing. Pull marketing is triggered by an internet search. Push marketing is advertising served up to an internet user when they visit a certain site. Pull Marketing Examples: - Google AdWords – 67% of the paid search market share - Bing Ads – 28% of paid search market share - Serves ads to both Yahoo and Bing search engines Push Marketing Examples: (Typically, not as successful as Bing or Google.) Hybrid ads (image/text) could possibly interrupt a user’s session within the LinkedIn & Facebook websites. - LinkedIn - Facebook EXAMPLE/EXPLANATION EXAMPLE/EXPLANATION EXAMPLE/EXPLANATION
Point 2 – Use Landing Pages for Clarity – PPC Results Your Website is “Brand Central Station.” By designing a landing page for the sole purpose of supporting your pay-per-click efforts, you can dramatically increase your visitor-to-lead conversion rates. Here are a few reasons we highly recommend landing pages: - Your website is built to serve a variety of purposes (Branding, information about the firm, SEO, etc.) and can create distractions from what your PPC objective is….lead generation. - Streamlined landing pages create clarity and certainty for the visitor. - Laser-focused messaging and calls-to-action. - Implement tracking phone numbers on landing pages for full lead attribution from PPC marketing. - Easier to implement A/B and multivariate testing.
Lead Management Best Practices/Conclusion:
Point 1 -Timely Response- Ideal response time – Phone calls & Emails - Actively manage how/when you can connect - Communicating re: conflict of interest - Contact an interruption or opportunity for you/your staff - Gathering contact information - Schedule consultation asap – target days/times - Consistent process - Source of contact
If you have full confidence in your marketing team, let them guide you. Expect to collaborate and receive information regarding best practices and solutions.
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